Following snowmobile trails through the Huron National Forest Sunday morning, Doug Finkbeiner is two weeks into his three-month, snowshoeing trek north from his home in Saginaw Township. Finkbeiner has a prosthetic leg from a motorcycle accident in 1986 and a pacemaker in his chest. As these obstructions slow his pace to seven miles a day, they also serve as his motivation. "This isn't the end of it. I don't give up my equipment and get a desk job after this. The boundary is there somewhere, I'm just trying to find it," Finkbeiner said.

While blizzard conditions and subzero wind chills over the weekend inspired many to bundle up in their homes, a Saginaw Township man was in the midst of a quest to prove nothing, even a missing leg and weakened heart, can get him down.

Doug Finkbeiner, 40, lost a leg in a motorcycle accident in 1986 and blew out his aorta in October 2003, but said the setbacks will not stop him from reaching whatever challenge he sets for himself. This winter, he will trudge through snowstorms and brave frigid nights as he makes a 660-mile snowshoe trek through Michigan.

"There shouldn't be any limitations," he said. "You should be able to do what you want to do. That's what I've set out to prove."

Finkbeiner started his hike Jan. 15 from the Mills Township Park. He headed north for five days and had reached St. Helen when equipment failure forced him to return to his home for a couple of days.

"Physically, I felt fine. I did not want to stop," he said.

His stove, which he uses for cooking and to purify drinking water, had broken down. Also, his cell phone battery froze, and he was unable to contact anyone.

"Everybody's been worried about me. Unless you see an obituary, don't worry about me," he joked.

He spent the time at home regrouping and problem solving, and started his journey again from St. Helen on Saturday.

"I'd had enough miles so I knew what needed to be fixed," he said. "It's not a setback. It's a retooling."

When Finkbeiner almost died after his aorta burst, he knew he needed to make some lifestyle changes. He quit his stressful job as a trucker, stopped smoking and decreased his salt intake. He went on a two-week snowshoe hike in Alaska, and worked to get himself in shape.

"I've proven to myself in the past year that I can do this," he said.

Daily News photos/BRETT MARSHALL

After adjusting his prosthetic leg made from snowmobile parts and other materials, Doug Finkbeiner pauses to look at the sky. "I'll be groovin' all the way, flyin high' on a beautiful day like this. The only thing missing is a beautiful woman."

Although Finkbeiner is confident that he will complete his trip, he has other challenges besides his missing leg and weakened heart. He still takes two light doses of medication. A blood thinner, Coumadin, makes him less able to handle cold weather. Also, his accident injured his hip, which forces him to carry most of his weight on his other leg.

"That will usually start hurting before anything else does," he said, warning him it's time to take a break. "That's usually my weather vane or my canary in the mine shaft."

He said his missing leg makes his morning routine longer than most people's, and actually putting on his prosthesis is one of the harder parts of waking up in the freezing outdoors.

"There's no way to really warm that up," he said. "You pretty much have to just grin and bear it."

Finkbeiner is sticking mainly to trails, which he has marked on a map he carries with him. He said he'd like to use a GPS device, but thinks the cold weather would make it inoperable.

He drags his tent, food, water and equipment on a sled behind him. During his first week, he said he was slowed significantly when the trails lacked the snow to pull the sled easily.

"I'm making three to four miles a day, and just killing myself to get that," he said.

Recent snowfalls give him hope that he will be able to reach his goal of seven to 10 miles a day. He plans to hike for 90 days, and if he hasn't reached his goal, he will regroup and, hopefully, keep going.

"I may make it, I may not, but I'm going to go down smiling," he said.

Until he reaches the bridge, his parents will deliver supplies about once a week. While in the Upper Peninsula, he will depend on mail drops.

Although he will be roughing it most nights, he said people do not have to worry about him. He said he'll never be more than a half-day walk from a crossroad, where he could flag down a car.

Finkbeiner said he hopes his journey will inspire others to work for their goals, whether or not they have a disability.

"Don't give up. Don't give in. Keep trying," he said. "Not everybody can walk 700 miles, but they can get up and do something."